USAFA 1-Meter-Class Satellite-Tracking Telescope for Space Situational Awareness Research
Abstract
Since the days of Sputnik, the Air Force has maintained the surveillance of space and a catalog of objects that can be tracked by primarily ground-based radars and optical systems. Events over the past decade, such as the test of the Chinese anti-satellite weapon in 2007 and the collision between an Iridium and Russian Cosmo satellite in 2009, have demonstrated the great need to have a more comprehensive awareness of the situation in space. Hence space situational awareness, or SSA, has become an increasingly important mission to the Air Force and to the security of the United States. Fundamental to SSA is the ability to characterize a satellite in order to determine features and infer possible functions and operations. However, high-resolution images from ground-based telescopes are only achievable if the satellite is large and close in range. Thus small satellites in low-earth orbits and large satellites in geosynchronous orbits are essentially unresolved in the focal plane of a ground-based telescope. A network of small telescopes augmented by a large aperture system, spatially diverse and networked together to conduct simultaneous observations of satellites in a variety of different collection modes, is an ideal system for non-resolved space object identification (NRSOI). The U.S. Air Force Academy’s stable of telescopes includes a global network of small telescopes (Falcon Telescope Network), but unfortunately does not include a large aperture, 1-meter-class telescope for more exquisite follow-up observations. Working with our partners in the Air Force Research Laboratory and at Air Force space Command, the U.S. Air Force Academy would be at the forefront of NRSOI research, following the Air Force to develop and test NRSOI algorithms with real-world observations. research results using the Falcon Telescope Network augmented with a 1-meter-class telescope has the potential for long-lasting and ground-breaking effects on Department of Defense space operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 24, 2018
- Source ID
- FA95501710396
Entities
People
- Francis K. Chun
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- United States Air Force Academy